EDUCATION CUTS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 21130, 12 March 1932, Page 13

EDUCATION CUTS.

SAVING £370,000. ABOLITION OF BOARDS. TWO TRAINING COLLEGES. REDUCED ALLOWANCES. MINIMUM AGE SIX YEARS. [BX TEIiEGRAFIT. —SPECIAL REPORTER.] WELLINGTON, Fridny. Economies in education to the extent of £369,950 are recommended by the commission. The net appropriation for education is £2,906,728. Tho suggested economies are as follows; — Closing of training colleges at Wellington and Dunedui . . . . £7,000 Allowances to training college students (eventually reaching £90,000 per annum) . . . . 25,000 School Journal 7,000 Manual-training schools . . • • 5,000 Conveyance of schoolchildren . . 50,000 Closing of smaller primary schools . 12,000 Over-scalo salaries paid to teachers 3,000 Administrative expenses: Abolition of education hoards, etc. . • 50,000 Departmental staff 1,150 School committees' allowances . . 10,000 Capitation allowances to boards on account of secondary pupils in district high schools and for science classes in secondary schools . . . 3.000 Special capitation for science classes in primary schools . . 6,000 Material for handwork in primary schools . 1,000 Free books to, primary-school children in necessitous cases . . . . 2,000 Capitation grants to secondary school boards for incidental expenses . . 2,000 Incidental allowances to technical school boards 5,000 Native-school scholarships . . . . 1,750 Maintenance of school buildings . . 23,750 Special allowatnces to teachers . 5,800 Salaries of female teachers in primary schools . . ; . . . 75,000 Minimum age of admission to primary schools, raising of . . 11,000 Proficiency examination, fees chargeable for 3,000 Other examinations, fees chargeable for . . . . . . • • t • • 1,400 Travelling expenses of physical instructors 500 Taranaki Scholarship Endowment abolition: Immediate benefit to Consolidated Fund _ . • . 28,000 Free post-primary education (ultimate saving. £33,000) . . . . 3,000 Special capitation for sewing in primary schools 3,000 Agricultural instruction .. .. 11.000 Manual-training instruction . . . . 13.000 £309,950 Great Rise in Costs. The cost per head of population, states the report, rose from £1 2s lid in 1914 to £2 8s in 1931, an increase of over 100 per cent. The cost per pupil or student also rose very considerably, and notable among the increases was the increase in the cost of primary education. In thiscase the expenditure rose from £5 4s lid per pupil in 1914 to £lO 15s 6d in 1931. Similarly, there had been a very sharp rise in the cost of the training of teachers—namely, from £97 8s 3d per student in 1914 to £l4l 17s 9d in 1931. The report expresses the opinion that, having regard to the cost of the educational systems in the Australian States, tho system in tho Dominion is unduly expensive. The abnormally high cost in the Dominion was due largely to the complicated system of control. Reference is made to control by primary education boards, secondary school boards, and technical school boards, as well as by the department. Direct Payment of Salaries. The bulk of the expenditure of the education boards was in the payment of teachers' salaries, and it would bo a simple matter for the department to arrange payment direct to the teachers, instead of through education boards as at present. It was considered that the board system should be abolished, but that school committees should be retained. There should be no risk of any loss of efficiency in the education system as a result. As a means of maintaining local interest in secondary and technical schools, formation of school councils was suggested. These councils were somewhat akin to parents' associations which had come into being of recent years, and which had proved how successful and effective such voluntary organisations could be in stimulating local interest. 'I lie report further states that the expenditure of such a large annual sum of money on the all-important national service of education should be governed entirely by principle and policy, and should be removed from the possibility of being influenced by motives of political expediency. In the past there had been lavish expenditure on education which could have been avoided without affecting the efficiency of the system. With a view to providing a more effective measure of control, a change in the present system was recommended by the establishment of a Central Advisory Board, in which tho control of education in the Dominion should bo vested. Dealing with training colleges, the report states that if, seemed clejr that during a period of financial depression it was impossible for the State to engage as many new teachers as during normal times. Even under normal conditions it was doubtful whether the country could possibly absorb the output of four training colleges. Two training colleges would lie ample for many years to come, and the closing of the training colleges at Wellington and Dunedin was therefore recommended. Training College Allowances. At present allowances paid to training college students were as follows:—Female students, £72 per annum; male students, £76 10s per annum; with a boarding allowance of £27 per annum to students living away from home. The total expenditure on allowances was in excess of £105,000 per annum. This expenditure could not be justified under present conditions, and it was recommended that tho present allowances be abolished and

that training college bursaries be substituted to the value of £26 per annum, together with a boarding allowance of £26 per annum for students living away from home. A limited number of these bursaries should be awarded only to the most desirable students, as, for instance, degree students. It was recommended that a system of allowances repayable in instalments afc the conclusion of the period of training be instituted. The maximum allowance be £52 per annum for students who could satisfy the department that they required'assistance during the period of training. The savings that would be effected by this change would, in the first complete year, be in excess of £40,000, and the total savings would eventually amount to approximately £90,000 per annum. The change should be effected from the beginning of the second term in the current year. A charge of Id a copy for the School Journal is proposed, the charge to be deducted from the capitation grants of school committees. Expensive country manual-training centres should be closed. Instruction in woodwork and cookery to Standard V. should be discontinued. Free Conveyance of Pupils. Free conveyance of pupils of primary, secondary and technical schools at present costs the State £IIB,OOO a year. The report makes the following recommendations : (1) That free conveyance to all postprimary schools be discontinued. The cost under this heading is £15,000. It is considered that the parents of children attending secondary and technical schools should meet the transport cost themselves, particularly as post-primary education is free. (2) That boarding allowances be discontinued and that the pupils be taught through the department's corresponding school, which is particularly well organised, and adequate instruction could be given through it to country children. (3) That the conveyance allowance paid for primary school children bo discontinued, except where a conveyance system is instituted for the express purpose of saving the expense of establishing a new school of at least grade I. or reopening an old one. These changes would not affect any consolidation system that has been established and the consolidation of small schools should certainly be carried out wherever any saving could be effected. All grade O schools (with an average attendance of one to eight pupils) should be closed and the pupils instructed through the correspondence school. Allowances to school committees have not yet been reduced, states the report, and a reduction of 10 per cent, is considered reasonable. Capitation Allowances. Capitation allowances to boards for secondary pupils in district high schools and for science classes in secondary schools should be reduced from 7s 6d a pupil to 4s. The special capitation for science classes in primary schools should be dis continued. The capitation allowance of £2 to secondary school boards for incidental expenses should be reduced to £1 15s. The supply of free schoolbooks to pupils in primary schools should be discontinued. Incidental allowances to technical school boards, at present paid on a basis of 25 per cent, of the salaries paid, should bo reduced to 20 per cent. No further native school scholarships should be granted. Most of the school buildings at present in use had been kept in very good repair of late years and a considerable saving could be effected in maintenance costs. Economies amounting to £23,750 should not result in permanent deterioration of the buildings. Female Teachers' Salaries. "It has been established in the Dominion," states the report, "in so far as secondary and technical school teachers are concerned, that the ratio between the salary of a female teacher and that of n male is approximately 4 to 5. This ratio has been adopted in most countries where there is a differentiation between the salaries of female and male teachers. It seems an anomaly that the differentiation should exist in the case of secondary and technical school teachers and not in the case of primary school teachers, and we see no reason why the salaries of primary school teachers should not be brought into line, and we recommend accordingly. "We have carefully considered the general question of whether there should be any alteration in the age of admission to primary schools. The expenditure, particularly on salaries, is directly affected by the number of pupils, and this in turn is affected by the age at which children are admitted to the primary schools. We are satisfied that children would not be adversely affected were the age raised from five to six. We would here draw attention to the fact that the same question wag considered by the Committee on National Expenditure set up by the British Government in 1922. That committee reported that the evidence showed that children who had not commenced their school training until six years of age did not show any appreciable difference in their attainments or knowledge on reaching the school-leaving ago from those who commenced at an earlier age. We therefore recommend the raising of the age of entrance to six years." A fee of 2s 6d should bo charged for the proficiency examination, and fees for other departmental examinations are also recommended. Taranaki Scholarships. Dealing with the Taranaki scholarship endowment, members were of the opinion that the Taranaki candidates were placed in a much more favourable position than other university candidates. There was now no good reason why the revenue from reserves and the accumulated income which had not been used in the past should not be paid to the Consolidated Fund as a set-off to the increasing cost of university education, including scholarships. A more rigid examination for both junior and senior free places is recommended, with a wecding-out of those who, after a reasonable trial, disclosed they wero failing to benefit by their postprimary opportunity. It was recommended that the cumulative tenure of junior and senior free places bo reduced by two years, (he free place terminating at the end of the year in which the pupil reaches the age of 17 Agricultural instruction should be discontinued. There are 22 agricultural .instructors, and salaries and incidentals cost. £II,OOO a year. The report considers that thesi economics can well be made without greatly impairing the efficiency of the system.